The man who painted the first Cobra and built the Monkeemobile, customizing legend Dean Jeffries, has died at the age of 80.

As confirmed by Tom Cotter, who wrote Dean Jeffries: 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing & Film, Jeffries died in his sleep Sunday night. He had suffered from a number of maladies and mishaps over the years, including cancer and a fall from a ladder that put him into a coma, but as Cotter said, “he always bounced back from them” and Jeffries’s family had been working with the legend to bring more of his vehicles back into the spotlight in recent years.

Born in February 1933 in Lynwood, California, Jeffries dreamed of attending the Art Center in Pasadena, but instead of doing well in school he gravitated toward cars, learning from his mechanic father and from his neighbor, Troy Ruttman. While with the Army in Germany he learned the art of pinstriping from a German furniture and piano striper, and upon returning to California, he continued to learn the art from Kenneth “Von Dutch” Howard, leading to a job as George Barris’s in-house pinstriper. Along the way, he learned how to shape metal, as well, and began to take the customization of his clients’ cars further; during that time, he not only striped James Dean’s infamous Porsche 550 Spyder with the nickname “Li’l Bastard,” but also built Chili Catallo’s 1932 Ford three-window coupe, the one that the Beach Boys used on the cover of their Little Deuce Coupe album.

As Jeffries told the story of the first Shelby Cobra to Cotter, he agreed to paint the car as a favor, sympathizing with Shelby’s effort to get the car done on a budget of next to nothing. “The body was a disaster, all heliarced and torched up. I had only three days from start to finish. I asked Shelby what color he wanted, and he said, ‘Any color you want.’ So, not knowing if it was right or wrong, I painted it pearl yellow because I had heard on TV that yellow stood out the best.” Shelby would later return the favor by providing Jeffries with a Weber-topped 289-cu.in. Ford V-8 and four-speed transmission for Jeffries’s Mantaray, an asymmetrical single-seater based on a 1939 Maserati 8CTF Grand Prix chassis.

Exposure from the Mantaray – and Jeffries’s new shop in Hollywood – attracted plenty of celebrity clientele and paved the way for jobs creating and customizing cars for the movies and for the stars, including the aforementioned Monkeemobile, the Chrysler Imperial-based Black Beauty from The Green Hornet television series, and the Landmaster from Damnation Alley. He didn’t restrict himself to Hollywood cars, however: He designed and manufactured the Kyote Volkswagen-based dune buggies and built a number of custom and concept cars for Ford, including a gullwing-door show car called the Cougar and the Falcon Python show car.

Jeffries working on a Jaguar E-type that he restyled to look more like a Shelby Cobra.

Jeffries also worked for a while as a stuntman, but most people perhaps know of him today if not through his cars then through his feud with George Barris, brought on by Barris’s habit of taking credit for Jeffries’s work throughout the years. “He couldn’t put a dent into something, never mind taking one out, but he’s a hell of a promoter, believe me,” Jeffries told Cotter. Barris retorted that he couldn’t “control what magazines write and who they list as the designer and builder.”

Though he maintained his shop on Cahuenga Boulevard – and held on to many of his most famous cars – until the end, Cotter wrote in Jeffries’s biography that the legendary customizer began to slow down about five years ago, after the death of his wife, Row. Still, Cotter came away impressed with Jeffries. “He was an amazing human being and a complex thinker,” Cotter said. “While he was very self-conscious about his lack of a high-school education, if you needed to send a rocket to the moon with only $9,000, he would somehow find a way to get it done.”

Cotter said that the Jeffries family is planning a memorial celebration for his friends and fans at a later date. For more information, visit DeanJeffries.com.

40 Responses to “Customizing legend Dean Jeffries dies”

The Mantaray used to be on display at The Petersen on the Streetscape. The story I heard was that Mr. Petersen and Dean Jeffries were long time friends. The Mantaray was sitting at Dean’s shop under a tarp and Mr. Petersen called him and said the car deserved to be on public display and he wanted it on display in his museum. It was fun to see kids who toured the museum gravitate towards that car with it’s cool bubble top and sensual curves. And the adults really enjoyed it as well.

A couple of years ago, Dean took it on tour and it hasn’t been back since. The red ’59 Cadillac convertible they put in its place doesn’t hold a candle to Mantaray.

The Mantaray can be seen in action in the 1964 movie “Bikini Beach.” If you can suffer through the typical Franike and Annette story (God rest her soul) you’ll see a lot of great period cars. In one scene the Mantaray is actually towing a trailer with a slingshot dragster on it. Don Rickles, of all people plays the owner of a bar and drag strip.

Heard rumor of his passing a day or two ago. Always impressed by his creations and genuine talent.
The Python mentioned in the article was a mid 60’s Ford Falcon. I remember somebody in the nearby town of Tipton, IN (where well known show car builder Steve Tansey was from and still resides) owned that for a while in the 80’s. It had been hit in front and a stock doghouse replaced the highly customized one. Wonder if its still hidden away in a garage there?

One of the guys I looked up to as I grew up around cars in the 50’s and 60’s. A great loss, but he left plenty for us who survive him to remember him by. A really great man has checked out and thousands in the wonderful world of creative customization will miss him.

Growing up in the Valley, and commuting to Hollywood, I’ll always remember seeing his shop on Cahuenga Blvd, just off of the freeway, easily visible, and distinguished by having the Monkeemobile parked outside for years.

Wow! Sad…I idolized his awesome and wild paint jobs I’d see in hot rod magazines as a kid. I used to draw cars and put wild stripes and crazy looking color schemes on them with crayons and dream I was building creations for him and Barris.

I always thought the Monkeemobile was what the GTO should have looked like. I’d watch the Monkees every week, just so I could see the car.

He was a master at everything he touched….he surely will be missed by many, but Alvin said it best, he left a legacy for future customizers and idolizers, such as myself, to inspire for generations to come.

Met him a couple of times and had some interesting conversations while he showed me around his shop.
He seemed to be quite the gentleman, soft-spoken, and a very capable and hard-working craftsman. He seemed was timeless and relatively unaffected by age.
RIP, Mr. Jeffries.

The hot rod world has lost a real talent! Jeffries was a real influence on me as a teenager. That lead photo of him striping a Moon disc led me to do the same to the ones on my mildly customized ’53 Ford convertible, and an earlier photo of him flame painting a car on the cover of Motor Trend Magazine encouraged me to do a similar flame job on my ’49 Chevy! He was a man of so many talents – not mentioned in the article is the many years he spent painting race cars at the Indianapolis 500, as a friend of Troy Ruttman and A.J. Foyt. I encourage all to get and read Tom Cotter’s great book about Jeffries. RIP Dean

I had thought about asking Dan about this, but calling to mind the mixture of stupidity and downright filth I have seen on other blogs I think that the Hemmings approach makes for a better forum, even with the odd typo or miss spelling.

I did my junior year of high school in Hollywood and used to stop in at Dean’s shop after school to see what he was up to (1962-63). He was always friendly and helpful…even to a kid on a motor scooter. Many years later I visited his shop on Cahuenga and he was just as nice and friendly as ever. He told great stories and was very modest, but justifiably proud of his accomplishments.

The Mantaray, which was really his signature car was built on the chassis of a wrecked pre-war Maserati GP car that was in his father in laws garage. When talking about the car a few years ago, he said that in retrospect he felt awful about “destroying” an incredibly valuable vintage race car….but at the time, it was just an old wrecked and no longer competitive. There are other pre-war Maserati GP cars, there is only one Mantaray. I think he made the right decision.

He was a talented man, a real car enthusiast, and a very nice person to speak with. I’m glad I had the chance to meet him.

I stopped to visit a few weeks ago before I left LA to relocate to North Carolina, first time I had seen him in a few years. He was friendly but I could tell he was hurting. We had done numerous articles and TV spots with him over the years, he was a great guy and a strong influence in my taste in cars over the years.

Ill say a small prayer for Dean as I go by his landmark building on Cahuenga
Pass in the Hollywood Hills. He was also very instrumental in bringing metal flake paint into the mainstream of customizing.

As for the poster who mentioned glancing off of the 405 (San Diego) Freeway to see Dean’s cars… that would be a neat trick. Suspect he meant glancing off of the 101 Hollywood Freeway on the western side of the freeway and not far from Universal City, etc.

If I recall correctly, Dean also did The Spinner–the fabulous flying car for the sci-fi icon classic, “Blade Runner.” If I recall, I think Syd Mead designed The Spinner and Dean Jeffries actually built about three different versions of the car–at least one of which was drivable. He also made several other futuristic cars for the movie. Dean also made the wild tri-wheeled survival vehicles in another sci-fi movie with George Peppard and Jan-Michael Vincent. One of these huge vehicles was usually still sitting outside of Dean’s shop and yes, indeed could be seen from the 101 Hollywood Freeway for many years.

I lived in Woodland Hills as a teen and drove by Deans shop alot. Also hung around Barris’s shop in North Hollywood. Ironic as it seems now, some friends of mine rented a house in Calabasas and all the doors and cabinets and everything was pinstriped. Later found out it was Von Dutchs old house and shop in the garage. I miss all the cool stuff from back then that we took for granted. I loved seeing the Monkeemobile facing the 101 for years. Seems I remember Barris did take a lot of credit for things. Now if you go online, it says he restored or refreshed these cars. George will be at Route 66 in San Bernardino in September. Will be fun to see what he has to say. Dean will be missed!

The Alexander Brothers of Detroit did the intitial build on Clarence “Chili” Catallo’s ’32 3-window Ford. Barris’ shop later did the top chop, other features and paint on the car, according to magazine features of the day and later reference works.

I don’t remember seeing the Monkeemobile out front, but for years I would see the Landmaster from “Damnation Alley” parked there, one time getting out to take pics of it from the other side of the fence!

Yes, “Damnation Alley” with George Peppard and Jan-Michael Vincent is the last movie I mentioned in my post where I wrote about the vehicle (Landmaster) sitting out front of Dean’s shop off of the 101 Hollywood Freeway for many years.

In the movie there were two of these vehicles, but I only saw one in real life. And like you, I don’t remember seeing the Monkeemobile ever sitting out in front of the shop for more than a day.

I got to see two versions of The Spinner up close and personal when I accidentally drove past the Bradbury Building in downtown L.A. late one night and they were actually filming “Blade Runner” and I came back on subsequent nights to see more. One of The Spinners was beautifully finished and everything appeared to actually work (except for the flying part). The monitor lit up and the controls lit up and the power “Lambo doors” actually worked! I also saw Harrison Ford’s future car used in the tunnel scene and it really was drivable. Dean did an amazing job on this project… and he had to because director Ridley Scott demanded the ultimate in reality on this movie…which is what made it all so believable.

Sad news about Dean Jeffries. My favorite car of his was “The Black Beauty” from “The Green Hornet” TV show. On the subject of the “Monkeemobile”, I met Geoge Barris a few years ago at the SEMA automotive show in Las Vegas a few years ago, at the unveiling of the newly restored “Monkeemobile”. George claimed that he originally did the car and he owned the car. This claim had already been confirmed to me by the pinstriper who did the original “Batmobile” whom I met a couple of years before that. He was working for Barris when they dug the Lincoln Futura out of the mud in Barris’ backlot to create the “Batmobile”. He was also there when the Major Nelson 1966 GTO used in the “I Dream of Jeanie” TV show was delivered to Barris to be turned into the “Monkeemobile”. At the SEMA show, “Batmobile #2″ was parked next to the “Monkeemobile”, as it had been restored a year earlier. Both cars had been restored by the same body shop near Sacramento, California.

Nice to hear all the people that will miss Dean. I sure do. I met Dean when he got into doing stunts . His forte was driving and setting up the cars to be used in the Tv and movies he was hired for. I had the honor and priviledge to assist him in these projects. And also I consider myself as being probably his best friend.
I ,as far as I know, was probably the last person to see and visit with Dean the day before he died. I saw that day he wasn’t feeling too well and offered to go get the Rescue guys across the street. But he refused and said he was just tired and needed to rest so I left. I did call him that night at home to see how he was and he was Ok then . The next I heard he had passed. RIP—Deano

I had talked to Dean in 2011 as I had found a 60’s custom Indian vertical twin motorcycle with a painted and pin striped tank with Jeffries and Hollywood signature at the aft end of the tank. When we talked by phone he told me “I painted a few motorcikles and that is the correct signature for then”. Has anyone else seen a motorcycle painted by Dean Jeffries or have an idea how many he had painted? He was an easy person to talk with and meet by telephone and we spent over 40 minutes talking. RIP, Dean.